Thousands of drivers caught speeding on M4 in Gwent

More than 35,000 motorists have been caught by variable speed cameras on the M4 since they were switched on a year ago.

WalesOnLine quotes figures from Gwent Police showing an average of almost 3,000 drivers a month were caught by the cameras between junction 24 at Coldra and junction 28 at Tredegar Park, Newport, since October 10, 2016 – with most motorists caught in December.

It says it raised nearly £1m in fines.

The cameras enforce variable speed limits on the road, and data released under the Freedom of Information Act shows that in the first month of being switched on, 2,034 Notices of Intended Prosecutions (NIP) were handed out for people speeding, while the lowest number of drivers were caught in May with just 488 being handed NIPs. However the report says this was because a planned IT upgrade to computer systems meant that police were not able to process tickets.